NEWARK, N.J. (CelebrityAccess) David Melnick, president of the jazz-focused Absolutely Live Entertainment, recently talked to Charisma Lyles of WBGO in Newark, N.J., saying it would be a huge risk to have another Fyre Festival.
Hip-hop entertainer Ja Rule, co-founder of the disastrous Fyre Festival, said earlier this week that he was thinking about getting involved in a sequel to the 2017 event, prompting Lyles to ask Melnick for his opinion on the matter. Melnick has produced many festivals, including the Saratoga Jazz Fest.
Melnick said a sequel is feasible if Ja Rule works with people other than co-founder Billy McFarland, who was sentenced last year to six years in prison for defrauding investors.
“The biggest issue at the end of the day is the safety of the audience, the artists and the staff and reality of being able to produce an event in a remote location,” Melnick said. “It’s very difficult, it’s very challenging, it’s very expensive. You have to have the right infrastructure. You have to know that all of these different areas of consideration are either available to you or you can bring them in. Everything has to be done way in advance by professional people who know what they’re doing and who take their responsibilities very seriously because at the end of the day it’s really about the safety of everyone you know who would be there.”
He added that a second festival would still be risky.
“They would really to have create a whole new model. The biggest challenge would be to try and explain to explain to the potential audience, that this wasn’t going to be what that was. I probably wouldn’t name it the same thing. It’s a huge risk but in this day and age there are so many weird events that take place in such unique places around the world, not just musical festivals, but other mass-gathering activities that I think it can be done. I think that people have to be very careful. A lot of things out there that happen with new festivals is they lose money the first few years. You have to be able to understand what that financial risk is.”
The eight-minute interview is available here.
